Potato-digger.



No. 782,947. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905. J. A. BUCK.

POTATO DIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED my 13, 1901.

Hlllllll \A/iTNESSES WQiQLW/ 113 Q MwENLEi v UNITED STATES PatentedFebruary 21, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. BUCK, OF CRESCENT, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO EXCELSIOR MACHINECOMPANY, OF COHOES, NEW YORK.

POTATO-DIGGER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 782,947, dated February21, 1905. Application filed May 13, 1901. Serial No. 59,964.

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. BUCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Crescent, county of Saratoga, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Diggers, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to such improvements; and it consists of the novelconstruction and combination of parts hereinafter described andsubsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, and the referencecharacters marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Similar characters refer to similar parts in the several figures.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a side elevation of my improvedpotato-digger with a portion of the tongue and operatinglever brokenaway. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same with portions of the mainaxle broken away to bring the wheels nearer together for convenience ofillustration. Fig. 3 is a vertical crosssection of the crank-shaft andits inclosure, taken on the broken line 4 4 in Fig. 2.

My present invention is an improvement upon the construction shown anddescribed in United States Letters Patent No. 602,497, is-

sued to James A. Buck and another April 19,

1898, for improvements in potato-diggers, to which patent reference maybe had for a more complete description.

In embodying my present invention I make use of a sulky-truck having aframe 1, supported by the axle 2 and wheels 3. The curved beam 4 ispivoted at 5 upon the truck-frame 1 and supports at'its lower end theplow 6, which is oscillatory upon the vertical pivot 7. The wings of theplow are provided with a plurality of tines 8, projecting rearwardlyfrom the wings of the plow. The oscillatory movements are communicatedto the plow upon its vertical axis by means of connections with thetraction-wheels 3, consisting of the sprocket wheels and chainsconnecting the main axle with the crank-shaft 9, rotary in suitablebearings formed in the bracket 10, riveted to the plow-beam. Thiscrank-shaft is connected,

by means of the pitmen 12. with the respective wings of the plow. Meansare provided for oscillating the plow-beam upon its pivot to raise andlower the plow consisting of the hand-lever 13, (shown partly brokenaway,) pivoted at 14 upon the sulky-frame and adjustably connected by alink 15 with the plowbeam. These parts are held in any desired positionby means of the stop 17, engageable with the toothed sector 18 in theusual wellknown manner.

The parts thus far described are substantially the same as those shownin said Patent No. 602,497, and for that reason it is not considerednecessary to describe the same more in detail.

One of the objects of my present improvement is to leave the potatoeswhich have been thrown out by the plow of the digger fully exposed onthe top of the soil. I accomplish this result by means of a mechanismplaced just below and back of the rearwardly-projecting ends of theplow-tines 8. This mechanism consists of a rock-shaft 20, rotary insuitable bearings 21, secured to the lower arm of the plow-beam. Thisshaft is provided with a plurality of tines 22, projecting rearwardlyfrom the shaft. The shaft extends transversely of the plow and itsprojecting tines in a horizontal position, so that when rockingmovements are imparted to it its tines 22 will oscillate in verticalplanes. A rocking movement is imparted to the shaft by means of the arm23, fixed thereon, and the link 24., pivotally connecting such arm withone of the pitmen 12, as seen in Fig. 1. From an inspection of thisfigure it will. be seen that the movement of the pitman-rod as itfollows the wrist-pin on the disk of the crank-shaft 9 will impart arocking movement to the shaft 20 sufiicient to oscillate the tines 22 invertical planes. The location of these tines 22 just below and back ofthe plow-tines 8 causes the soil and potatoes which are delivered fromthe plow and the plow-tines to pass on to the tines 22, and the verticalmovements of these tines force the potatoes to the top of the soil, thesoil itself being allowed to sift down through between the tines, sothat the potatoes are left in a conspicuous position on the top of thesoil as they pass from the tines, and it is impossible t'or any of thepotatoes forced up by the plow to remain concealed beneath the soil, asthe tines are sufficiently near together to prevent the passage betweenthe same of any potatoes of sufiicient size to be of any value.

The crank-shaft 9 is rotated at a considerable speed, and if the weedsor potato-vines should come in contact therewith they might wind aroundthe same in such quantities at the bearings as to prevent the freerotation of the same and cause unnecessary wear upon the journals andbearings. To prevent the possibility of such winding of the weeds, Iplace the crank-shaft in the inclosure, consisting of a cylindricalshell 25, which prevents the weeds and vines from coming in contact withthe shaft.

Another object of my invention is to provide a spring-controlled hookfor straightening up and removing weeds and vines in advance of theplow, which hook can be swung up to a higher level at the same time andby the same means employed to raise the plow when the same is not inuse. I have shown such a hook 30 pivoted to a bracket 31, depending fromthe truck-frame. The bracket may be in the form of ears to receive theshank of the hook between them. These ears may be provided with a seriesof pivot-apertures 32, each adapted to receive the pivotal bolt 33,whereby the hook may be adjusted vertically. The hook while in use ismaintained in a yielding position with its forward point at or near thesurface of the ground by means of a bow-spring 34, pivoted at one end toears 35, projecting from the body part of the hook intermediately of itsends, and the other end secured to the lower end of the hand-lever 13.When the plow is locked in position for use by means of the hand-leverwith its stop 17 and the toothed sector 18, the spring 34 will maintainthe hook 30 in a yielding fixed relation to the plow. The yieldingcapacity of the hook when acted upon by the weeds will depend upon thestrength of the spring 34. It is obvious also that when the plow islifted by means of the hand-lever connected with the plow-beam the hook30 will also be lifted, being directly connected, through the spring 34,with the lower end of the hand-lever. A single movement of the handlever will thus raise both the plow and the hook from the ground, sothat the potato-digger can be freely transported from one field toanother without danger of the plow or hook coming in contact with theground. The ears 35 on the hook also serve to support therearwardly-projecting bars 37, which extend to the rear end of themachine and tend to prevent the weeds from getting into thetraction-wheels or other operating mechanism, the oscillatory movementsof the hooks causing vibratory movements of the bars.

Links 38 connect the wings of the plow with the upper part of theplow-beam, being adjustably secured at their upper ends to the bracket39, bolted to the beam, for the purpose of assisting in the support ofthe plow, as fully described in said Patent No. 602,497.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a potato-digger, the combination with a truck and plow-beam; of aplow pivotally sup ported by the beam; gear mechanism for oscillatingthe plow; a spring-controlledclearing-hook pivotally supported by thetruckframe; a clearing-bar pivotally connected at one end to anoscillatory part of the hook and extending longitudinally of thetruck-frame past the gear mechanism to protect the same from weeds bytheir shaking movements and movably supported at its other end by thetruck-frame, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of April,1901.

JAMES A. BUCK.

Vitnesses:

FRANK C. CURTIS, E. M. OREIL Y.

